-
Adroit
Skillful; dexterous; clever; shrewd; socially at ease
-
Adage
An old saying; A familiar bit of wisdom
-
Affectation
Unnatural or artificial behavior, usually intended to impress
-
Adulterate
To contaminate; To make impure
-
Alacrity
Cheerful eagerness; Readiness to respond
-
Agrarian
Related to land; Related to the management or farming land
-
Amenable
Obedient; Will to give in to the wishes of another; agreeable
-
Ameliorate
To make better or more tolerable
-
-
Amorphous
Shapeless; Without form; Blob like
-
Aphorism
A brief often witty statement. A proverb
-
Antithesis
Direct opposite
-
Apotheosis
Elevation to divine status, The Perfect example of something.
-
Apocryphal
Of dubious authenticity;Fictitious;spurious
-
Artifice
Clever trick;cunning
-
Approbation
Approval; praise
-
Assiduous
Hardworking; Busy; quite diligent
-
Ascetic
Hermit like;Practicing self-denial
-
Avuncular
Like an uncle (particularly like a nice uncle)
-
Austere
Unadorned; stern; forbidding; without excess
-
Blatant
Unpleasantly or offensively noisy; Glaring
-
Beleaguer
To surround;To besiege; To harass
-
Bucolic
Charmingly rural; Rustic; country like
-
Bourgeois
Middle class(usually in a pejorative sense); Boringly conventional
-
Burlesque
Ludicrous; mocking; exaggerated imitation
-
Burgeon
To expand; To flourish
-
-
Cacophony
A harsh-sounding mixture of words, voices, or sounds
-
Chimera
An illusion; A foolish fancy
-
Categorical
Unconditional; absolute
-
Circumlocution
An indirect expression; use of wordy or evasive language
-
Choleric
Hot tempered; Quick to anger
-
Cognizant
Aware; Conscious
-
Cogent
Powerfully convincing
-
Concord
Harmony; agreement
-
Colloquial
Conversational; informal in language
-
Consummate
Perfect; Complete; Supremely skilled
-
Consonant
Harmonious; in agreement
-
Countenance
Face; facial expression, especially an encouraging one
-
Convivial
Fond of partying; festive
-
Decadent
Decaying or decayed, especially in terms of morals
-
Debacle
Violent breakdown; sudden overthrow
-
-
Decorous
Proper; in good tastes; orderly
-
Demagogue
A leader of people, but more a rabble rouser. Leads people for his own ends
-
Delineate
To describe accurately; to draw an outline
-
Deride
To ridicule; to laugh at contemptuously
-
-
Despondent
Extremely depressed; full of despair
-
-
Dialectical
Relating to discussions; relating to the rules and methods of reasoning; approaching truth in the middle of extremes
-
Desultory
Without a plan or purpose; disconnected; random
-
Didactic
Intended to teach; morally instructive; pedantic
-
Dictum
An authoritative saying; an adage; a maxim; a proverb
-
Discreet
Prudent; judiciously reserved
-
Dilettante
Someone with superficial knowledge of the arts; a dabbler
-
Disparate
Different; incompatible; unequal
-
Discrete
Unconnected; separate; distinct
-
Docile
Easily taught; obedient; easy to handle
-
Dissolution
The breaking up or dissolving of something into parts; disintegration
-
Ebullient
Boiling; bubbling with excitement; exuberant
-
Doctrinaire
Inflexibly committed to a doctrine or theory without regard to its practicality; dogmatic
-
Edify
To enlighten; to instruct, especially in moral or religious matters
-
Eclectic
Choosing the best from many sources; drawn from many sources
-
-
Efface
To erase; to rub away the features of
-
Egregious
Extremely bad; flagrant
-
Egalitarian
Believing in the social and economic equality of all people
-
Elliptical
Oval; missing a word or words; obscure
-
Elicit
To bring out; to call forth
-
Enervate
To reduce the strength or energy of, especially to do it gradually
-
Endemic
Native; restricted to a particular region or era; indigenous
-
Engender
To bring into existence; to create; to cause
-
Enfranchise
To grant the privileges of citizenship, especially the right to vote
-
Ephemeral
Lasting a very short time
-
Enormity
Extreme evil; a hideous offense; Does not mean hugeness or great size
-
Epitome
A brief summary that captures meaning of the whole; the perfect example of something; A paradigm
-
Epigram
A brief and usually witty or satirical saying
-
Equivocal
Ambiguous; intentionally confusing; capable of being interpreted in more than one way
-
Equanimity
Composure; calm
-
Esoteric
Hard to understand; understood by only a select few; peculiar
-
Erudite
Scholarly; deeply learned
-
Euphemism
A pleasant or inoffensive expression used in place of an unpleasant or offensive one
-
Espouse
To support; to advocate
-
Exemplify
To illustrate by example; to serve as a good example
-
Evanescent
Fleeting; vanishing; happening for only the briefest period
-
Exigency
An emergency; an urgency
-
Exhort
To urge strongly; to give a serious warning to
-
Expedient
Providing an immediate advantage; serving one's immediate self-interest; practical
-
Expatriate
To throw (someone) out of his/her native land; to move away from one's native land; to emigrate
-
Fabrication
A lie, Something made up
-
Exult
To rejoice, to celebrate
-
Farcical
Absurd, ludicrous
-
Facile
Fluent; skillful in a superficial way; easy
-
-
Fatuous
Foolish; silly; idiotic
-
Felicity
Happiness; skillfulness, especially at expressing things; adeptness
-
Fecund
Fertile; productive
-
Fidelity
Faithfulness; loyalty
-
Fervor
A great warmth or earnestness; ardor; zeal
-
Flout
To disregard something out of disrespect
-
Flagrant
Glaringly bad; notorious; scandalous
-
Foment
To stir up; to instigate
-
Foible
A minor character flaw
-
Founder
To fail; to collapse; to sink
-
Fortuitous
Accidental; occurring by chance. Oft misused to mean lucky, but means merely accidental
-
Genteel
Refined; polite; aristocratic; affecting refinement
-
Garrulous
Talkative; chatty
-
Grandiose
Absurdly exaggerated
-
Grandiloquent
Pompous; using a lot of big fancy words in an attempt to sound impressive
-
-
Gratuitous
Given freely; unjustified; unprovoked; uncalled for
-
Hackneyed
Overused; trite; stale
-
Gregarious
Sociable; enjoying the company of others
-
Harbinger
A forerunner; a signal of
-
-
Heresy
Any belief that is strongly apposed to established beliefs
-
Hegemony
Leadership, especially of one nation over another
-
Histrionic
Overly dramatic; theatrical
-
Hermetic
Impervious to external influence, airtight
-
Husbandry
Thrifty management of resources; live-stock farming
-
-
-
Iconoclast
One who attacks popular beliefs or institutions
-
Impeccable
Flawless, entirely without sin
-
Imminent
Just about to happen
-
Ineffable
Incapable of being expressed or described
-
Incipient
Beginning; emerging
-
Insinuate
To hint; to creep in
-
Infatuated
Foolish; foolishly passionate or attracted; made foolish; foolishly in love
-
Intractable
Uncontrollable; stubborn; disobedient
-
Insipid
Dull; bland; banal
-
Invective
Insulting or abusive speech
-
Intransigent
Uncompromising; stubborn
-
Itinerant
Moving from place to place
-
Inveterate
Habitual; firm in habit; deeply rooted
-
Largess
Generous giving of gifts( or the gifts themselves); generosity, philanthropy
-
Laconic
Using few words, especially to the point of seeming rude
-
Loquacious
Talking a lot or too much
-
Laud
To praise, to applaud, to extol; to celebrate
-
Lugubrious
Exaggeratedly mournful
-
Lucid
Clear; easy to understand
-
Malinger
To pretend to be sick to avoid work
-
Machination
Scheming activity for an evil purpose
-
Matriculate
To enroll, especially at college
-
Manifest
Visible; evident
-
Mendacious
Lying, dishonest
-
Mellifluous
Sweetly flowing (almost exclusively used to describe voices, music or sounds that flow sweetly like honey)
-
Milieu
Environment; surroundings
-
Metamorphosis
A magical change in form; a striking or sudden change
-
-
-
Obdurate
Stubborn and insensitive
-
Neologism
A new word or phrase; a new usage of a word
-
Obsequious
Fawning; subservient; sucking up to
-
Obfuscate
To darken; to confuse; to make confusing
-
Ostensible
Apparent (but misleading); professed
-
Officious
Annoyingly eager to help or advise
-
Panacea
Something that cures everything
-
Palliate
To relieve or alleviate something without getting rid of the problem; to assuage; to mitigate
-
Peccadillo
A minor offense
-
-
Pedestrian
Unimaginative; banal
-
Pedantic
Boringly scholarly or academic
-
-
Pejorative
Negative; disparaging
-
Peripatetic
Wandering; traveling continually; itinerant
-
Perfunctory
Unenthusiastic; careless
-
Perquisite
A privilege that goes with a job; a perk.
-
Pernicious
Deadly; extremely evil
-
Philistine
A smugly ignorant person with no appreciation of intellectual or artistic matters
-
Peruse
To read carefully (often misused to mean skim through)
-
Precept
A rule to live by; a principle establishing a certain kind of behavior or action; a maxim
-
Polemic
A powerful argument made in refutation of something
-
Profligate
Extravagantly wasteful and, usually, wildly immoral
-
-
Putative
Commonly accepted; supposed; reputed. (when used you are emphasizing that the reason is supposed, not proven)
-
Promulgate
To proclaim; to publicly or formally declare something
-
Recalcitrant
Stubbornly defiant of authority or control; disobedient
-
Qualify
To modify or restrict
-
Replete
Completely filled; abounding
-
Recondite
Hard to understand; over one's head
-
Salient
Sticking out; conspicuous; leaping
-
Sagacious
Discerning; shrewd; keen in judgment; wise
-
Sanguine
Cheerful, optimistic; hopeful
-
Salutary
Healthful; remedial; curative
-
Scrupulous
Strict; careful; hesitant for ethical reasons
-
Scintillate
To sparkle, either literally or figuratively
-
Sobriety
The state of being sober; seriousness. A sober person is not drunk. It can also mean a person who is serious
-
Serendipity
Accidental good fortune; discovering good things without looking for them
-
-
Stoic
Indifferent (at least outwardly) to pleasure or pain, to joy or grief, to fortune or misfortune
-
Sublime
Awesome; extremely exalted; lofty; majestic
-
Stricture
Restriction; a limitation; a negative criticism
-
Tacit
Implied; not spoken
-
Superfluous
Extra; unnecessary, redundant
-
Unctuous
Oily (both literally or figuratively); insincere
-
Tautological
Redundant; circular
-
Verisimilitude
Similarity to reality; the appearance of truth; looking like the real thing
-
Venal
Capable of being bribed; Willing to do anything for money; corrupt
-
Vicissitude
Upheaval; natural change; change in fortune
-
Vernacular
Everyday speech; slang; idiom
-
Vitriolic
Caustic; full of bitterness
-
Vitiate
To make impure; to pollute
-
Wanton
Malicious; unjustifiable; unprovoked; egregious
-
|
|